More youth victims of identity theft, report says

Despite the stereotype in which the older generation is not that tech-savvy, and an easier prey for digital fraudsters, the number of younger people being deceived is growing, fraud prevention service Cifas says.

Cifas says that last year, there have been just under 24,000 of people aged 30 or less, that were victims of identity fraud. In 2014, the number was 15,766, and in 2010, it was 11,000.

Fraudsters usually pretend to be innocent individuals, looking to buy a product or take out a loan. They're usually in possession of pieces of private data, such as name, date of birth, address, their bank and who they hold accounts with.

They get their hands on such data in a variety of ways, including data theft or leaks. It was said that 86 per cent of all identity frauds in 2015 were perpetrated online.

“Fraudsters are opportunists. As banks and lenders have become more adept at detecting false identities, fraudsters have focused on stealing and using genuine people’s details instead,” Simon Dukes, Cifas, Chief Executive said.

“Society, government and industry all have a role in preventing fraud, however our concern is that the lack of awareness about identity fraud is making it even easier for fraudsters to obtain the information they need.”

The figures were published the same day as a new short film, Data to Go. The video was released to raise awareness of identity fraud, and to remind people that a lot of things they do online are visible to all.